Page 86 of Tacos & Toboggans
“This is Dr. Warren,” I answered, already plotting a reason why I wasn’t there and wouldn’t be in. Retractable diarrhea looked like a good answer. Food poisoning. Ebola.
“Dr. Warren, it’s Loretta. Weird question, but Jaelyn started working out at Evergreen Acres now, right?”
“Yes, she’s taking over part of the school-to-work program with Lance Garland. Why?”
“Is she with you? A call just came in that an ambulance is en route from the tree farm. I wanted her to know.”
Nothing in my career prepared me for how quickly my heart stopped at her statement. “She’s not with me, and I can’t reach her. I’m headed out there!”
“Dr. Warren!” Loretta said as I pressed the accelerator to the floor. “They’re less than two miles out. All we know is abdominal trauma. We may need you here.”
“Jaelyn may need me more!” I growled, panic nearly overwhelming me. Spots danced before my eyes until I convinced myself the person in that ambulance was a customer. Someone just fell and got hurt. It probably happened all the time.
“If it’s Jaelyn, you can be more help to her if you’re waiting here when she arrives. If it’s not her, we still may need your help, but at least you’ll know she’s safe.”
Logic. Rule with logic, Major. Turn your doctor mode on and your emotions off.
“I’ll be there in two,” I said, punching the end button and hanging a right practically on two wheels, praying the entire way.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Major!” Becca said, jumping up as I walked out and pulled my skull cap off. “How is she?”
“Sassing all the nurses and being a generally poor patient,” I said with a weak smile.
It had been two hours since the ambulance had pulled in with the woman I love in the back of it, bleeding profusely from her abdomen. My combat training had kicked my emotions to the curb and allowed me to do what I had to do, but now the adrenaline was draining out, and the seriousness of the situation was catching up to me. I accidentally locked my right knee, nearly falling when I went to take a step. Cameron grabbed me and pivoted me to a chair, where I leaned over my legs with the intent to fix the prosthesis, when really, I just needed to breathe before I passed out.
Cameron had his hand on my back and his hand around my upper arm. “You got this. Take a moment now and remember she’s going to be okay because of your handiwork.”
“Every time I touch her in there, I cause her pain,” I moaned, resting my forehead in my hand.
“Maybe short term, but she knows you love her and are trying to help her,” Ivy said, and I was surprised to hear her voice. I didn’t even realizeshe was there.
When I glanced up, she shook her head slightly, which was enough to tell me she hadn’t clued them in about why Jaelyn was out there to begin with.
“Can you tell us how bad it is?” Becca asked. “Because it looked pretty damn bad.”
“On a scale of one to ten, it was a seven as far as blood loss. I would imagine the snow was a scary sight,” I agreed, sitting up and taking a deep breath to remind myself that she was okay and I had a hand in that. “She needed a transfusion, and we appreciate Lance donating while she was getting stitched up. It’s unusual to have a universal donor willing to come down and donate on the spot.”
“That’s Bells Pass for you. Besides, they’re friends, and he’d do anything for her. He’s still here somewhere.”
“As for the internal injuries, her small bowel was nicked, but the rest was fascia and tissue. I'm not a general surgeon, but I scrubbed in as a second set of hands. I’m glad I did, as we were able to get the job done quickly, so she didn’t need as much anesthesia. She’ll hurt for a few days, but otherwise will be fine with a bit of healing. What the hell happened out there?”
“We don’t know,” Becca said, shaking her head. “She never came into the store, but I walked outside to the snack shack and noticed her car. That was the same moment Cameron radioed for me to call 911. He’d taken the snowmobile out to the clearing and found her.”
“She’s so lucky you did,” I moaned, my head back in my hand as I took a deep breath.
“I normally don’t go out there before the first ride, but I noticed footprints in the trail leading out to the clearing. I was worried someone had gotten lost, so I decided to check it out while smoothing out the path.”
“This is my fault,” I said, shaking my head in my hand. “We argued, and she left. I assumed to clear her head. I didn’t know she was going out there, or I would have called you. I did call you, but there was no answer. Now I know why.”
“That doesn’t make it your fault,” Ivy said. “She loves the farm and always calls it her one place for peace. I wouldguess she was taking a breather and unexpectedly encountered someone.”
“Do we know who that was?” I asked, realizing for the first time that someone had stabbed her. Logically, I knew that to be the case, but I hadn’t stopped long enough to think about it.
“Gabe suspects it was that same guy who held you guys up by the park,” Becca supplied. “We sent them the video, and while it’s not great resolution, it was enough for him to say the guy was close in height and weight. They followed his tracks.”
“She told me she doesn’t remember anything after reading my text. Did she have an exchange with the guy? Was he looking for money again?”
